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Bridgestone J815 Driver - THP Review

SuperStroke
emart2173 said:
Nailed the bold. Iirc the Bridgestone guys said the non milled faces the ball slips off the face causing extra spin and the milling helps keep the ball on the face longer reducing spin

The milling on wedges gives them roughness that allows for more spin on shots.
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I still don't understand how the milling differs. Milling on wedges is for roughness, that means it will grab more, correct? Milling on the driver grabs more to keep it from slipping up the face? Not sure how they are doing different things? What am I missing? Just trying to understand the difference.
 
That looks like a transformer. Optimus Prime... TRANSFORM!

I'm sure it's a great club but not my preferred look.
 
I absolutely loved this driver at Bstone u. While the top graphics look very "different" the results are fantastic! I am very tempted to replace my WS driver w this club. It is worthy of a test drive.
 
Look forward to your feed back Jman. I really like the clean lines of the 715, just not sure about this one. I guess if I get to see it in hand ill be able to make up my mind.
 
jochan90 said:
I still don't understand how the milling differs. Milling on wedges is for roughness, that means it will grab more, correct? Milling on the driver grabs more to keep it from slipping up the face? Not sure how they are doing different things? What am I missing? Just trying to understand the difference.
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What I think you're missing is the angle of the face of the club at impact with the ball. The face of the driver at impact is close to 90* vertical, while the face angle of a wedge is much shallower. The driver face at impact grips the ball just enough to prevent it from slipping up the face. The wedge face at impact grips the ball and creates a lot of spin because of the angle it hits the ball.
 
Thanks Jman for the awesome pics. I want to get one of these in my hands so bad! I'm sure I'll have to wait for a ball fitting event this spring and hope they bring one along to take some swings.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this beautiful club.
 
The crown is very different, I am mixed on my feelings about it. I really like the sole and options with this offering.


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Rainman said:
What I think you're missing is the angle of the face of the club at impact with the ball. The face of the driver at impact is close to 90* vertical, while the face angle of a wedge is much shallower. The driver face at impact grips the ball just enough to prevent it from slipping up the face. The wedge face at impact grips the ball and creates a lot of spin because of the angle it hits the ball.
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So it is because of the dynamic loft(loft delivered/presented at impact)? Is that what you mean by angle of the face?
 
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Course bound!
 
I must say this looks like it could really be a fun head to play with can't waiting to hear the details from Jman and his on course review.
 
This could be the dark horse driver for me this year. One that I wasn't expecting, and then when I did see it I didn't expect it to be one I'd normally try, and now I'm pretty pumped to try it and see if it could end up in my bag.
 
Enlightening. So far, thats what I have.
 
Cant wait to hear more Jman
 
Jman said:
The sound surprised me, in a good way. Launch is promising too
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I look forward to your comparisons between your current club inventory as best you can.
 
A busy graphic lover's driver for sure.
 
i am a fan of the sound and was extremely happy with the launch i was getting. Cant wait to read your more detailed thoughts Jman
 
OK, soooooooooooo, got this one out and about today for some getting to know you time on a round of 18 and 9 bonus holes of just see what is what...

  • Its red. It has graphics. It has LOTS of graphics. More than meet the eye.
  • I know there has been a lot of talk about not noticing the graphics after a while, and with a lot of clubs I've been the same way, but this isn't one of them thus far, its the first thing you notice each and every time it is placed at address. IMO its impossible not to.
  • The head itself sets up REALLY well, its a great shape, its a solid depth to the face, and the F.A.S.T. crown (the ridges at the front) frankly look pretty awesome (I'd love to see it in all black for that very reason).
  • The sound is really good, better than the J715 IMO. Its a more metallic sound (as opposed to the composite Callaway sounds) but its what I would call very crisp and concise. There is not echo or eccentric resonance to it, so I don't want anyone thinking loud here, because it isn't. A very good sound, when you hit the ball, you know you hit the ball, no lagging sensation on the face.
  • For a 9.5 head, I was launching this very very well today, I would actually say mid-high. Not AS high as my Alpha 815, but surprisingly closer than expected given the loft differences.
  • I would call what I saw all day a low/mid to mid spin performance, for the low and back CG claim, its a good thing and a departure for B'stone in a driver head (a good one which fits their wanting to cover the gamut of golfers needs)
  • High on the face I saw really good things, definite distance loss and added launch, but the line was kept really really well.
  • Off the heel, the gear effect was there, but not massive or accentuated at all, the "heel cut" stayed in play, thats a big thing.
  • Off the toe, really a pleasant surprise, good distance retained, not crazy gear effect ("toe-draw"), and good launch.
  • The head shaft combo is nice so far, the ZT is a really solid all around selection for the bell curve of golfers IMO and what they want to accomplish with this head.
  • Its nice to review a 45" driver again, its a length playable for many, and a range which many would benefit being back in from the 46" stuff we are seeing now.
  • Distance was VERY solid, very.
  • I don't want to get too finite until I get some ball speed numbers, but first outing was a surprising one for me. This is the anti-Bridgestone driver of the past, its not LOW spin, its not LOW launch, its not unforgiving...this really seems to be a head for the "rest of us".
 
I would love to hear your 9.5* vs my 12*. I had made a comment at BstoneU about different sounding heads. I tried out 2 different 12* J815 heads and to me they made different sounds. One was more metallic like you heard (nothing horrible just different) and the one I have is a more dampened thwack. It wasn't just after a few hits on the range either, I played one head all day Sat and the other all day Sun so I don't believe it was just how I was hitting it. Maybe slight differences in pre production?
 
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Bridgestone 815 Driver - THP Review

Bridgestone 815 Driver - THP Review

Good stuff James. Yeah looking at that at address I do find it hard to believe you don't notice the graphics.

That said I would probably try focusing on framing the ball with a small part of them and try and ignore the rest.

I still like the looks of it. It is very distinctive.
 
CAA_Beat said:
Good stuff James. Yeah looking at that at address I do find it hard to believe you don't notice the graphics.

That said I would probably try focusing on framing the ball with a small part of them and try and ignore the rest.

I still like the looks of it. It is very distinctive.
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Exactly what I did yesterday buddy, and being that I'm working on my alignment on the tee, it was kinda nice.

I got along with the i25 graphics for the same reason though
 
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